Over at his blog, Doolwind, former Auran programmer Alistair Doulin has posted his personal views on the closure of Brisbane-based developer Auran late last year.
There are some intriguing insights into the lead up to Auran’s end of days, as well as the company itself. For example, Alistair mentions that Auran had quite a few extremely talented people working for the company that Auran failed to retain:
For me, the first sign that something wasn’t quite right was when one of the star graphics programmers informed Auran he was going to leave if he wasn’t put on something interesting. This guy (while never admitting it himself) was basically Carmack 2.0. He is the kind of person that good companies would give almost anything to have on their team. However, at Auran, they just let him slip away even after giving them a direct option to resolve the problem. The other problem was when the three leads (programming, art and QA) all resigned within a couple of weeks of each other.
Along with an inability to hold on to talented staff, Doulin cites the extreme focus on just one project, Fury, and a lack of communication as other undermining factors.
Obviously, the blog is based off Doulin’s personal observations. If they are to be believed – and I see no reason not to at this stage – they paint a rather damning picture of Auran Developments’ upper management. It’d be good to see another insider’s perspective on the events that transpired, and we’ll do our best here at Kotaku AU to chase it up. Understandably, the topic is still a sensitive one for many.
What Auran Did Wrong [Doolwind’s Game Coding Journal]
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